Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Holy Bible is not a
static book. It won’t give you the same message, emotions and instructions
every day. Some day you might read a sad passage. On another occasion, you
might find something inspirational and the next day you will laugh, because you
have found some funny Bible verse. In today’s post I want to share 11 random
Bible verses of encouragement with you. I could have compiled a list of 300,
but let me keep that for another time.

1. Psalm 37:4:”Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you
the desires of your heart.“

2. Psalm 103:2-3:” Praise the Lord,
my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals
all your diseases...“.

3. Jeremiah 29:11:” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.“

4. 1 Peter 5:7:”Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.“

5. Proverbs 16:3:” Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and
he will establish your plans.“

6. 1 John 5:14-15:”This is the confidence we have
in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
And if we
know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.“

7. James 4:7-8:”Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he
will flee from you.Come near to God and he will come
near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you
double-minded.“

8. Hebrews 2:18:”Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able
to help those who are being tempted.“

9. Philippians 4:19:”And my God will meet all your
needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.“

10. Romans 8:28:”And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.“

11. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:“ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though
outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.17 For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on
what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.“

Ok, this ends my short list of random Bible verses
of encouragement. Hope to continue these type of verses soon.

Monday, August 13, 2012

The scripture that is my mind today is from 2 Peter 1:1:”Simon Peter, a servant and
apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and
Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.”

The part that startles me most here is that
we (all Christians) have received faith from God that has the same value as
that (faith) of the great apostles of Jesus. We tend to exalt apostles and they
really had a very special call from God, mission and were honored greatly by
God to become servants, apostles and friends of Jesus. However, if we take
faith as substance, our faith is of the same quality that apostles had.

It means we did not get something different
than apostles got. It also means we can get answers from God and do the works
that the first disciples did. You can pray and see results in the same way they
did. You can expect a miracle as they did.

We also got the same Holy Spirit that they
got. Yes, He is no different. The Spirit is of no inferior category, power and
etc. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God for us as He was for
them.

So, do not belittle your God, or yourself.
You are his servant, messenger and son (or daughter). He is the same today as
He was yesterday. Apostles are in Heaven and they cannot help us to do things
for God (except by means of their writings). But you have the same faith and
the same Spirit and they did and this enables you to great things for your God.

What a hope, joy and privilege. Use it for
the blessing of others and the expansion of the kingdom of God.